Letter from Soviet cosmonaut, 1983

Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union, the first woman in space with a three-day flight in March 1962, wrote to Samantha Smith (1972-1985) of Manchester in December 1983.

She reiterated the desire of the Soviet people and leaders to live in peace and said the Soviet people were fighting for peace.

She also wrote, "Today, when the threat of a nuclear catastrophe has increased even more, the efforts of all people of good will are required to defend life on earth."

Samantha Smith visited with Tereshkova, also the head of the Soviet Women's Committee, in Moscow in July 1983 when Smith and her parents went to the Soviet Union as guests of Soviet leader Yuri Andropov.

Smith had written to Andropov asking him if he planned to start a war and made a plea for peace.